Wrist Rehabilitation Aid System

ABSTRACT

A wrist rehabilitation aid system includes a rod that is elongated and has a first end, a second end and a perimeter surface extending between the first and second ends. A first portion of the rod is positioned adjacent to the first end and defines a grip. A connector is coupled to the second end. The connector is freely rotational with respect to the rod about a rotational axis orientated parallel to a longitudinal axis extending through the first and second ends of the rod. A tether is resiliently stretchable and has an attached end removably attached to the connector and a free end attachable to a stationary anchor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to wrist and tendon rehabilitation device and more particularly pertains to a new wrist and tendon rehabilitation device for allowing a person to reproduce a conventional baseball bat swinging motion against a resiliently stretchable tether without the tether binding against wrist rotation to the detriment of hamate bone and carpal tunnel syndrome rehabilitation activities.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.

The prior art relates to wrist and tendon rehabilitation device. In particular, the prior art includes devices which do not allow for the free rotation of a handle as the handle is moved in baseball type swing pattern.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a rod that is elongated and has a first end, a second end and a perimeter surface extending between the first and second ends. A first portion of the rod is positioned adjacent to the first end and defines a grip. A connector is coupled to the second end. The connector is freely rotational with respect to the rod about a rotational axis orientated parallel to a longitudinal axis extending through the first and second ends of the rod. A tether is resiliently stretchable and has an attached end removably attached to the connector and a free end configured to be attached to a stationary anchor.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side isometric view of a wrist rehabilitation aid system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, side isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 thereof, a new wrist and tendon rehabilitation device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the wrist rehabilitation aid system 10 generally comprises a rod 12 that is elongated and has a first end 14, a second end 16 and a perimeter surface 18 extending between the first 14 and second 16 ends. The rod 12 may be comprised of any conventional, rigid material, such as wood, plastics, metals and the like. The rod 12 will typically be lightweight, with a total weight being less than 2.0 lbs. A first portion 20 of the rod 12 is defined which is positioned adjacent to the first end 14. This first portion 20 furthermore defines a grip of the rod 12 and has a cylindrical shape with a diameter that is less than 2.0 inches and is greater than 0.75 inches. A knob 22 is attached to the first end 14 and may form a unitary structure with the rod 12. A second portion 24 of the rod 12 is located adjacent to the second end 16 and defines a barrel that flares outwardly from the first portion 20. Thus, the rod 12 may have the appearance of section of a baseball bat not including its outer section. In particular, the rod 12 has a length from the first end 14 to the second end 16 that is between 12.0 inches and 26.0 inches and therefore may be formed from a baseball bat which is cut down to the specified dimensions stated above.

A connector 26 is coupled to the second end 16. The connector 26 is freely rotational with respect to the rod 12 about a rotational axis that is orientated parallel to a longitudinal axis extending through the first 14 and second 16 ends of the rod 12. The connector 26 extends outwardly away from the second end 16 along the longitudinal axis. The rotational axis and longitudinal axis may be co-axes.

A tether 28, which is resiliently stretchable, has an attached end 30 attached to the connector 26 and a free end 32 configured to be attached to a stationary anchor. The attached end 30 may be removably attached to the connector 26 so that the user may use different tethers 28, each having a different resistance to stretching, with the rod 12. Each of the attached 30 and free 32 ends may form a closed loop for easy attachment to anchors or the connector 26. The anchor may comprise anything that is generally static and heavy enough to anchor the tether 28 while it is being used with the rod 12. An example of a suitable anchor may include a doorknob of closed door. The connector 26 may comprise an eyelet 34, having a break 36 therein, that removably engages the attached end 30. The eyelet 34 may be part of eyebolt 38.

A coupler 40 may be used to rotatably couple the connector 26 to the second end 16. For example, the coupler 40 may include a cap 42 that has an end wall 44 and a perimeter wall 46. The perimeter wall 46 extends around the rod 12 adjacent to the second end 16 such that an interior space 48 is defined between the end wall 44 and the second end 16. A bearing 50 is mounted in and extends through the end wall 44. The bearing 50 may comprise any conventional bearing such as a radial ball bearing, a cylinder bearing or the like having a stationary outer sleeve and a rotatable inner sleeve. The eyebolt 38 extends through the bearing 50 and has a threaded end 52 positioned within the interior space 48. A nut 54 is positioned on the threaded end 52 to secure the eyebolt 38 to the bearing 50. The cap 42 is secured to the rod 12 with conventional fasteners 56 though adhesives or other binding may be utilized. It should be understood that is possible for the attachment of the connector 26 to take many different forms and could be accomplished by securing the connector 26 directly to the rod 12 without the cap 42, for example. It is essential that the connector 26 rotate freely relative to the rod 12 separately of the structure used to attach the connector 26 to the rod 12.

In use, a user of the system 10 will grip the rod 12 adjacent to the first end 14 in the same manner as they might a baseball bat. The tether 28 will have already been selected based upon its resiliency and attached to the connector 26 and an anchor. The rod 12 is then swung in a typical baseball bat swing pattern wherein the hands are rolled over through the swing to produce a natural swing motion. By using a rotatable connector 26, the hands can easily roll over through the swing without the tether 28 binding relative to the rod 12. That is, the connector 26 allows the rod 12 to rotate freely of the tether 28 to prevent the tether from biasing against rod 12 rotation. Biasing of rotation is detrimental to the rehabilitation of, for example, hamate bone injuries as well as carpal tunnel syndrome rehabilitation.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

1. A rehabilitation aid assembly configured to assist a person in rehabilitating wrist and forearm areas of the person's body, said assembly comprising: a rod being elongated and having a first end, a second end and a perimeter surface extending between said first and second ends, a first portion of said rod being positioned adjacent to said first end defining a grip; a connector being coupled to said second end, said connector being freely rotational with respect to said rod about a rotational axis orientated parallel to a longitudinal axis extending through said first and second ends of said rod, said connector comprising an eyebolt; a tether being resiliently stretchable and having an attached end removably attached to said connector and a free end configured to be attached to a stationary anchor, said eyebolt being removably engageable with said attached end; and a coupler rotatably coupling said connector to said second end, said coupler including a cap having an end wall and a perimeter wall, said perimeter wall having a proximal edge coupled to and extending around a peripheral edge of said end wall, said perimeter wall having a distal edge relative to said end wall, said perimeter wall extending around said rod adjacent to said second end such that an interior space is defined between said end wall and said second end; a bearing being mounted in and extending fully through said end wall; and said eyebolt extending through said bearing, said eyebolt having a threaded end positioned within said interior space, a nut being positioned on said threaded end to secure said eyebolt to said bearing.
 2. The rehabilitation aid assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first portion of said rod has a cylindrical shape with a diameter being less than 2.0 inches and greater than 0.75 inches.
 3. The rehabilitation aid assembly according to claim 2, further including a second portion of said rod being adjacent to said second end defining a barrel, said barrel flaring outwardly from said first portion, a knob being attached to said first end.
 4. The rehabilitation aid assembly according to claim 1, wherein said rod has a length from said first end to said second end being between 12.0 inches and 26 inches.
 5. The rehabilitation aid assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said attached end and said free end of said tether form closed loops.
 6. (canceled)
 7. (canceled)
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 9. (canceled)
 10. A rehabilitation aid assembly configured to assist a person in rehabilitating wrist and forearm areas of the person's body, said assembly comprising: a rod being elongated and having a first end, a second end and a perimeter surface extending between said first and second ends, a first portion of said rod being positioned adjacent to said first end defining a grip having a cylindrical shape with a diameter being less than 2.0 inches and greater than 0.75 inches, a knob being attached to said first end forming a unitary structure with said rod, a second portion of said rod being adjacent to said second end defining a barrel and flaring outwardly from said first portion, said rod having a length from said first end to said second end being between 12.0 inches and 26 inches; a connector being coupled to said second end, said connector being freely rotational with respect to said rod about a rotational axis orientated parallel to a longitudinal axis extending through said first and second ends of said rod; a tether being resiliently stretchable and having an attached end removably attached to said connector and a free end configured to be attached to a stationary anchor, each of said attached and free ends forming a closed loop, said connector comprising an eyebolt removably engageable with said attached end; a coupler rotatably coupling said connector to said second end, said coupler including a cap having an end wall and a perimeter wall, said perimeter wall having a proximal edge coupled to and extending around a peripheral edge of said end wall, said perimeter wall having a distal edge relative to said end wall, said perimeter wall extending around said rod adjacent to said second end such that an interior space is defined between said end wall and said second end, a bearing being mounted in and extending fully through said end wall, and said eyebolt extending through said bearing, said eyebolt having a threaded end positioned within said interior space, a nut being positioned on said threaded end to secure said eyebolt to said bearing. 